Pension advice
Retirement might still seem like a lifetime away for some and with the pinch of the credit crunch, starting a pension may be the last thing on your mind. But when you consider that you could be spending more than 30 years in retirement, it is more important than ever to make appropriate plans to save into a pension, as well as keeping a close eye on how much you’re saving, what investments you are choosing and what level of income in retirement you will get.
As you begin looking into your plans for your retirement, you should check what your entitlement is for the State Pension (please use the links at the bottom of the page) and what you may get from any employer schemes or personal pensions you belong to now or have belonged to in the past.
Much has changed recently, and will be changing over the next few years, that will impact your savings plans and retirement. From 6th April 2006, so-called “A-Day” or pensions simplification, life got simpler for retirement savers as the government brought in a new simplified set of rules, effectively shelving the eight previous tax frameworks for pensions.
The basic state pension from the government will give you a start, but you can’t rely on it, so if you want to save for yourself, instead of relying on the state or your employers, what can you do?
Whether you are employed and not in an employer’s pension scheme or self employed and need to make your own pension provision, saving in a Personal Pension (PP) plan can give you the peace of mind that a pension fund will be there for you in later years. A Stakeholder Pension (SHP) which is a type of low-charge Personal Pension or a Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) which are for more sophisticated pension investors are other alternatives.
An Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) can help establish whether a Personal Pension, Stakeholder Pension plan or a Self Invested Personal Pension is right for you and what level of investment risk you should take with your savings in such. An IFA is also in a position to consider the different plans there are on the market from all providers.
Optimum Independent Financial Advisers can advise on all types of pensions. Please use our online contact form or other contact details if you would like to discuss your pension options with an adviser.
